Means for welding plastic films



May 13, 1952 E, K 2,596,933

MEANS FOR WELDING PLASTIC FILMS Filed Jan. 31. 1951 2 SHEETSSHEET l IN VEN TOR. E/mer L. Kirk ATTORNEYS May 13, 1952 Filed Jan. 31, 1951 E. L. KIRK MEANS FOR WELDING PLASTIC FILMS 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 INVENTOR. Elmer L. K 17% ATTORNEYS Patented May 13, 1952 UIWITELD STATES PATENT OFF ICE;

MEANS. FOR WELDING PLASTIC FILMS Elmer L. Kirk, Midland, Mich., assignor to The.

Dow Chcmicalfiom'pany, Midland, Mic-baa. cor.- porationiotnelaware ApplicatiomJ anuary "31, 1951, S'crlalINo; 208,732"

3 Claims'.' 1

This'invention-relates to a heating-element (or use in welding superposed layers of'thermoplas tic-films: It'relates in particular to aheatin element adapted to furnish simultaneously, across the intended weld area, a plurality of'temperature conditions ranging above and below" the optimum welding temperature or the plastic to betreated.

The heating means of the present invention may be used in connection with any thermal weldingapparatus for plastic films. Many types of such apparatusare known, and one especial- 1y useful machineisthat disclosed by Lowry and Church in U. S. Patent 2,469;972. In the said priorpatent; it isdisclosed to supplyheat to the weldingjelementsor heating shoes from ai oint as; near" as; possible to their working surfaces. Ithas beenfound'tiiat, with thesaidrriora'rrangement" of elements; the action'oi the-necessary off-on""switch in control of'the heating element results in pulsations ofheat and corresponding" fluctuations of temperature at the toe, or'working face, of the heating-shoes. Sudden upsurges of' temperature sometimes j blister or even char the film being supplied for welding, while a change of temperature in the opposite direction may leave-theworking-face oftheheatin'g shoeso relatively cool that no weldingtoccurs, orvery poor welds are formed.

It is accordingly an object of th present invention to provide a means forheating plastic film to a welding temperature without risk of temperature fluctuations of such si ificance at the working face of the welding element as to produce weak or unsatisfactory welds. It is a related object to provide a welding means for use on thermoplastic film, comprising a heating shoe and a temperature control such that there exist simultaneously across the working face of the shoe an ascending and a descending temperature gradient, each spanning the optimum welding temperature for the film to be welded. A further object is to provide a means as aforesaid which will produce simultaneously in thermoplastic film being supplied thereto a pair'of substantially parallel perfectly formed linear welds. Other and related objects may appear hereinafter."

It has now been found that theseand related objects maybe? realized th rough the: employment of a: particular configuration of heating: shoes, used in opposed pairs, with particular locations of the heat source and of the thermoswitch, all taken together-with'a preferred modulating circuitifor: the electrical elements of; the assembly,

2. as'will be explained: more: fully hereinafter with reference to theiannexed: drawing:

In the'saiddrawing, Fig. 1 is a. perspective view of" a pair: at the welding shoes of the present invention, in work'- ing position;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the toes; Mia-pair of suchwelding shoes, in elevation;

Fig. dis a schematic'drawing oi anxelectrical circuitfor use with the welding shoes; and-J.

Fig. 4 is a graph showing'the distribution of heat across the heated area .01 thermoplastic-film subjected'to the actionoffthe'new weldingrmeans.

The welding shoes of the. present; invention, illustrated in Fig. 1', are 'eachzmadeafrom asing-le picceof metal, which is preferably: copper: orsi'milarly dense and. thermally conductive. material with a high heatcapacity. Each shoeaconsists-ota toe' I 0 'having' asworkinga facetl I aire'arwardly extending solldmetal'main body I2 drilled at a distance fromand' parallel'toface I I to provide a" socket I3 for insertion. of'an electric:=resistance' heater (not shown) and amonitormember I4' verticalto the main body I2, disposed r'ea-rwardly from the'working face II and ahead of heater socket I 3, said monitor I'4' having a socket I5' therein for a heatsensiti'v'e switch (not shown), out ofthe direct paths of heat flow from socket I3 to working time II oitoe: Ill.

The working face II ofeach shoe; as shown in Fig. 2, is slightly crowned between its upper and lower margins I6 so that, when a pair or such faces Il' are-brought into working-"contact with a plurality of' plastic films to be welded, there is progressively less pressure on: the portions of film disposedlaterally ot'and parallel to the more highly compressedweld area.

Fig. 3"illustrates:a 'typeofelectrical circuit for use" with the welding shoes of'Fig; 1. A' cartridge heater, or other resistance element IT is inserted insocket I3 of eachwelding shoe. A heat-sensitive switch I8i's installed in socket. I5 of each shoe. A main rheos'tat I9 is connected in series between" the switch I8and resistor- I lof each shoe, while switch I8 and resistor I! are connected at their opposite ends to the power source, through lines'ZIl and, respectively. An auxiliary rheostatiZZ' is" bridged between power line 211 and main rheostat I9. The temperature in eachheat'ing shoe near resistor I 1' may bade termined at any time by referenceto an. indicating or recordingthermometer 23 which is connected with. a thermocouple 24 near therresistor When preparing: for operation of; the welding perature. in the welding shoes of the present invention. It -is observed'in Fig. 1 that the main paths of heat flow from resistor I? to working face ll converge apparatus, the heating elements are connected with the power source by closing main switch 25. Thermoswitch l8 remains closed until resistor I1 reaches the required temperature. Auxiliary rheostat 22 is shorted out and current flows through switch l8, which actsas a shunt, and through main rheostat [9 to resistor IT. The high value of heat input is under control of main rheostat l9. When the desired temperature is reached, switch l8 opens and current can only flow to resistor I! through auxiliary rheostat 22 and main rheostat 19, in series. The differential between the high value and the low value of energy input to the welding shoe is under control of the auxiliary rheostat 22, which may be set to reduce the current reaching resistor I! to a value which will just barely maintain the desired temperature in the heating shoe. When rheostat I9 is set so that the high value of energy input is slightly greater than required for optimum operating temperature, and rheo stat 22 is set so that the low value of energy input is just less than required to maintain this temperature, pulsations are kept to a minimum amplitude.

The paths of heat fiOW from resistor il in socket I3 to the working face ll of one of the welding shoes are shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

It is noted that thermoswitch [8 in socket I is located outside the general paths of heat fiow. Hence, any variations in temperature in the main body 12 of the welding shoe, due to pulsations in the heat input, are damped by the heat capacity of the large mass of metal between sockets I3 and i5 and between socket I5 and tle working face ll of toe [0. Location of the thermoswitch l3 and its socket l5 as near as possible to'toe l0, but still outside the general paths of heat flow, insures that the temperature at 'the thermoswitch and that at the face ll of tee ill will be very nearly the same.

While some thermoplastic films have no sharply defined fusion temperature, and may be welded at any temperature in a considerable range, others are submicroscopically crystalline and exhibit very sharp melting points. In the latter type of materials, satisfactory welds can only be made if the films are brought into contact with one another, under pressure along the desired weld line, at a temperature within a very few degrees above the crystalline melting point. Because of the poor thermal conductivity of thermoplastics, a thick film will require the welding shoes to be at a higher surface temperature, in order to bring the opposed film surfaces only be accomplished in a practical manner if there is a variation in temperature across the face of the welding shoe, from a few degrees below the minimum required temperature to a few degrees above the maximum required tem- This condition is readily maintained while the edges of the working face ll received considerably less heat. The result, expressed as a temperature gradient, G, across the face of the welding shoe, is illustrated in the graph of Fig. 4, wherein the ordinate, T, represents temperature and the abscissa, W, represents the width of the heated area of thermoplastic film in contact with the welding shoes. For a given thickness of films of a particular composition, the heating shoe must be at a temperature in the narrow range T to effect perfect sealing of the films. When the intersections of the temperature band T with the curve G, representing the temperature gradient across the affected area, are projected upon the abscissa W, the resulting bands P illustrate the width and location of the area in which perfect welding occurs. When the apparatus is used for the common purpose of sealing the open tops of film bags filled with merchandise, the location of T along ordinate T will vary with the thickness of films being acted onand with the rate of traverse of the bags through the machine, and the location of the perfectly sealed bands P will move correspondingly within the heated width W of the plastic film. Greater film thicknesses, or higher rates of traverse of the films through the welder, will require higher values of T, and the perfectly welded area P will be nearer the center of the heated zone. Between the two perfectly welded areas P there is an area in which the films are thoroughly fused together but in which they may not exhibit maximum strength. This centrally disposed band is protected from strain by the perfectly sealed bands P on each side, and these, in turn, are flanked by bands of film which have been heated insufiiciently to effect perfect fusion. These latter bands Y, when subjected to stresses such as are encountered in film packaged merchandise when handled, tend to yield to such stresses, and the latter are then distributed along a considerable length ofthe welded band P. The nearer one approaches the bands P in evaluation of the strength of the seal, the stronger it is found to be.

It is understood that, where reference has been made herein to variable resistances (rheostats) for controlling the energy input to the heatirr element, there may be used instead variable inductance reactors or variable voltage transformers, without altering the principle of the invention, and it is intended that such control means be deemed the equivalents of the ones described.

I claim:

1. In a machine for welding superposed layers of thermoplastic films, an opposed pair of welding shoes made of a dense and thermally conductive metal of high heat capacity, each such shoe having a toe with a slightly crowned work ing face, a rearwardly extending solid metal main body with a socket distant from and par-. allel to said working face, for insertion of a heating element, and a monitor member vertical to the said main body, disposed rearwardly from the working face and ahead of the heater socket, said monitor having a socket therein out of the direct paths of heat fiow from the heater to the working face, for insertion of a thermo'switch.

2. In a machine for Welding superposed layers of thermoplastic films, an opposed pair of welding shoes made of a dense and thermally conductive metal of high heat capacity, each such shoe having a toe with a slightly'crowned working face, a rearwardly extending solid metal main body with a socket distant from and parallel to said working face, an electric heating element in said socket, a monitor member ver tical to the said main body, disposed rearwardly from the working face and ahead of the heater socket, said monitor having a socket therein out of the direct paths of heat flow from the heater to the working face, and a thermoswitch in said monitor socket, electrically connected in series with said heating element through a rheostat to control the flow of current to said heating element.

3. In a machine for welding superposed layers of thermoplastic films, an opposed pair of welding shoes made of a dense and thermally conductive metal of high heat capacity, each such shoe having a toe with a slightly crowned working face, a rearwardly extending solid metal main body with a socket distant from and parallel to said working face, an electric heating element in said socket, a monitor member ver REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,227,497 Hallman Jan. 7, 1941 2,469,972 Lowry et a1 May 10, 1949 

